Cross to bare
07/12/89 (Mark Goodier)
Big Fun – “Can’t Shake The Feeling” (8)
Getting the final month of the 80's off to an energetic start but the song was now at its peak.
Kate Bush – “This Woman’s Work” (25) (video)
Perhaps one of Kate's most admired songs amongst her fans but it got no higher.
Soul II Soul – “Get A Life” (5) (video)
Peaked at number 3.
Sydney Youngblood – “Sit & Wait” (27)
In the studio to perform what was to be his final top 40 hit and it peaked at number 16.
Dusty Springfield – “In Private” (19) (video)
Peaked at number 14.
Jeff Wayne – “Eve Of The War” (remix) (3) (video)
At its peak.
Latino Rave – “Deep Heat ‘89” (22) (breaker)
Peaked at number 12.
Queen – “The Miracle” (21) (breaker)
The title track from their number one album but it got no higher.
Simple Minds – “Sign O’ The Times” (18) (breaker)
This Prince cover got no higher.
Erasure – “You Surround Me” (16) (video)
Went up one more place.
Jason Donovan – “When You Come Back To Me” (7)
In the studio tonight and this latest song peaked at number 2.
New Kids On The Block – “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” (1) (video)
Third and final week at number one.
Alexander O’Neal – “Hit Mix (Official Bootleg Mega Mix)” (38) (video/credits)
Peaked at number 19.
14th of December is next.
In contrast to the previous show, this one is full to bursting with new stuff, and Mark hosts proceedings capably, albeit with one notable howler when announcing 808 State on the chart rundown. We do start with one that has been on before, as Big Fun yet again open a show with the same old dance moves – did they have a contract specifying they should always be the opening act when they were on? More of the Kate Bush video next, a depressing affair made interesting by the unexpected presence of Lord Percy/Captain Darling, who is amusingly in close-up when Kate sings “darling”! I am not very familiar with the song, not being much of a Kate fan, but I suspect it is one that would grow on you with more listens.
ReplyDeleteSoul II Soul finally follow up their chart topper, but the dulcet tones of Caron Wheeler are missing this time, which perhaps helps to explain why this one is not well remembered today. It is quite inventive musically, however, with a similar feel to De La Soul in places, and the video fits the variety of musical styles on display by shifting between very different scenes and locations. You might have expected Sydney Youngblood to be all set for a big career at this point, but his second hit sounds a bit too similar to the first and doesn't have as much of a hook, which might help to explain the rapid dwindling of his chart career. He remains very much the showman in performance, however, with two comely backing singers to bounce off this time. Another classic PSB collaboration with Dusty follows, giving her what would prove to be her final Top 20 hit, though the excellent Reputation, her next single, deserved to do far better than the measly 38 it reached in the charts. A simple but effective video here, Dusty surrounded by various lovelies evoking her 60s heyday.
We'll be seeing more of Latino Rave, though not until 1990. Elsewhere in the breakers,the Queen video is highly amusing, though it is perhaps a little unsettling to see a child wearing some of Freddie's outrageous costumes. Bizarre to hear Simple Minds covering Prince, though what we heard here didn't sound too bad, rather to my surprise. Erasure must come close to rivalling Shaky in the number of forgotten hits they had, and this is another of which I have no recollection. Andy adopts a very low voice, and it doesn't sound bad, but is definitely not in the top league of their songs - not sure why they are spinning around on what looks like a black wedding cake.
The girls get to scream as Jason turns up to the studio in a big coat and sporting a very severe centre parting. The song is pure SAW production line, with a few cynical bells thrown in to try to capitalise on the Christmas market, though of course Jason would beat himself to the festive number 1 as part of Band Aid II. After Mark fails to correctly predict the following week's chart-topper (unfortunately, given what it turned out to be), Xander plays us out with what seems to be a rather undeserved hit mix - it's not as if he had enjoyed that many hits, is it? Anyway, we get treated to a couple of minutes of Fake again, and a typically sweaty video.
Having last watched this on a DVD-R way back in 2010 despite UK Gold repeated this around 25 years ago this year (which was the last of their 2 1989 episodes with Review of the 80s being the other episode) and the highlights follow:
ReplyDeleteBig Fun - Final month of the 80s, we're still got Aldi NKOTB kicking off the show like they did two weeks previous.
Kate Bush - The future NSPCC advert song finally gets a 2-minute video showing, one of Bush's weaker ballads and i'll generally cry when I do hear this on the radio, but i preffered Maxwell's cover of the song even better from 2001.
Soul II Soul - The band didn't make it to the studio, they won't be until 1992, there was a B-side to this single 'Jazzie's Groove', the song was also a ITV Chart Show number one on the week of December 9, 1989 and then returning to the top spot on January 6, 1990's ITV Chart Show Top Ten episode, mainly it was their "own" chart-topper, in the video there was kids singing some of the lyrics in the song. The third track to be taken from the Club Classics Vol I album, if you count four if Jazzie's Groove was featured as an A-side.
Sydney Youngblood - The second track taken from his Feeling Free album, he makes it to the studio and the lyric 'All we can do is sit and wait?', this was one of his weaker hits and his next single 'I'd Rather Go Blind' as we may be not be seeing it on BBC4 and despite failing to reach the top 40.
Dusty Springfield - Finally the PSB had helped her write on the 'Scandal' song, they finally wrote another song for her in the reminisce of her comeback career as she's surrounded by backing 60s lookalike girls in a white background.
Jeff Wayne - The re-mix of the 1978 track was nearing its highest peak in the top three, on the ITV Chart Show they placed it at number one on the 2nd of December 1989 episode as their own chart-topper unlike the official chart.
Breakers - The dance medleys of 1989 soon followed up with Latino Rave's 'Deep Heat '89' with the sound of Pump Up the Jam, Numero Uno, and Break 4 Luv, in which Deep Heat was a dance compilation album series that dominated the late 80s and early 90s, also Queen's fifth of their tracks which was their titled-track song as the kids are paying homage to previous Queen videos, and Simple Minds cover a Prince track which incorporates a New York train coming by in stock footage segments and only to be taken from their Amsterdam EP.
Jason Donovan - Yet again, the Australian Neighbours star finally charms us again with a post-Christmas hit and only that its his sixth track taken from the Ten Good Reasons album, as he makes it to the studio for the third consecutive time this year, his fourth will be 'Too Many Broken Hearts' at Christmas.
NKOTB - The third and final week at the top for the boy band, as they're set to return with the reissue of a hit from September in which would be the first U.K. number one of the new decade as we'll be seeing them on the 7th of August 2020 as it already entered at number six at the time of the first TOTP episode of the 90s.
Alexander O'Neal - Play-out time, the Bootleg Hitmix is a medley of songs such as 'Fake' and 'Hearsay' being one of the others, he follows Mixmaster and Latino Rave's footsteps, then Bobby Brown and Technotronic will follow suit in 1990.
WYCBTM was from Jason's second album, Between The Lines which was released in 1990.
DeleteDid Big Fun ever cover Iggy Pop's No Fun? That I would like to hear. Getting a bit bored with them now, though seeing Mark Goodier grooving to them was admittedly funny. Animal print jackets means one is in zebra, one is in giraffe, and the other is in Friesian cow (!).
ReplyDeleteThen to cheer us up, Kate Bush with her "male anguish during partner's childbirth" ditty. I find this painful to hear, but not because it's bad, because it's too good, it's piercing to listen to. The video isn't exactly a laff riot, either.
Soul II Soul on video, I prefer hearing this on the radio to their megahit, mainly because it's not as familiar, and is genuinely inventive even if "Get a Life" as an insult reminds me of Elastica's retort "Who wants a life, anyway?" on Connection a few years later.
Syd's back and obviously a man with high hopes, but the record-buying public had other ideas. I like this better than his other hit, sort of the opposite of the previous episode's Gloria Estefan hit. We get a reminder of Kaoma thanks to one dancer's tiny underwear.
Dusty and the Pet Shop Boys reteam for a really rather good pop song, reminiscent of her 60s material but with an '89 production. Deserved to go Top Ten, but I suppose the Christmas competition was as fierce as it always is. Fun video, too.
Yes, Richard Burton did have a hit record, kids. What do you mean, "Who's Richard Burton?"?!
That Stars on 45 formula still difficult to get rid of in the Breakers, then the Queen video gets around the problem of Freddie's ailing health by recasting with little boys. Lyrics to this are terrible: "SUNDAY MORNING CUP OF TEA!!!" Then Simple Minds with the truly diabolical cover of the Prince classic, what the hell were they thinking? Piss poor doesn't begin to describe it.
Didn't think I knew this Erasure one until it got going and oh yeah, I do remember it now. Bit more downbeat than usual for them, probably why it didn't get much higher. Stripy outfits ahoy.
Jason Donovan with Christmas evoking lyrics, but non-specific enough to get away with on his album released well before the big day. This is pretty decent, actually, a neat little pop tune that is celebratory without being cloying.
The New Blockheads will be back, then to end on another remix nobody requested, this time Alexander O'Neal gets perfectly good songs spoiled.
I don't recall The Simple Minds covering this Prince classic, and the two bands could hardly have been any more different, so it was quite mind-boggling as to what Jim Kerr was thinking in admiration of Prince, as Simple Minds would have been the last group I would associate with Prince. The simple mind boggles, haha!
DeleteI don't think Big Fun ever did "No Fun", but Bananarama did cover The Sex Pistols' "No Feelings"!
ReplyDeletehttps://uk.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=bananarama+no+feelings#id=51&vid=8557a786d1dfe9f1e30aa7164edfa3df&action=click
banamarama were actually originally mentored by the pistols drummer paul cook, who also co-produced their debut single "aie e mwana"
DeleteSo, we approach the festive season now in the middle of summer. Can’t wait for all those Christmas hits soon! Mark introduces an iffy roster of songs.
ReplyDeleteBig Fun – Can’t shake the feeling – Just nothing special.
Kate Bush – This woman’s work – Weird that’s all I can say. Presumably this was the kind of stuff she was performing on her sell out tour a few years ago,
Soul II Soul – Get a life – One of the best bands of 1989? Really? Another ‘life’ featured number that I quickly skipped.
Dusty Springfield – In Private – After helping Liza Minelli into the charts earlier in the year the PSB repeat the trick for Dusty. It’s perfectly pleasant, but for me Dusty’s finest moment remains to this day ‘All I see is you’ – one of the best ballads ever recorded in my opinion, and like this week’s no2, should have been a massive chart topper (but only reached no9!!!).
Jeff Wayne / ben Liebrand – Eve if the War – Great to hear this again and see the superb drawings from the album booklet. It’s hard to rate which side of the double album is the best but I keep coming back to Julie Covington and Phil Lynott’s duet ‘The Spirit of Man’ on side three. It just gets to me.
Breakers – Latino Wave – complete waste of time. Queen – Great innovative video but everyone had the album by then despite the limited edition ‘hologram’ picture sleeve single (which I have still got). Simple Minds – almost unrecognisable as the band who brought us the majestic ‘Belfast Child’ earlier in 1989.
Erasure – You surround me – Diminishing returns….I wonder what Erasure live were like?
Jason Donovan – When you come back to me – Jason turns up in his old red overcoat to sing a tune that I’m sure he’s recorded before, or was it Rick Astley…
Block Thing – Right Stuff – Absolute travesty that Linda and Aaron were stuck at no2 behind this for two weeks.
Alexander O’Neal – Hit Mix – Who bought this stuff? FF
Forgot Sydney. Not bad and loved the trousers one of the dancers was wearing!
DeleteThe Spirit Of Man is truly moving whenever I hear it. The bit where Lynott is about to give up on his life by giving in to the devil, until Covington says "No Nathaniel no, there must be more to life, there has to be a way that we can restore to life, the light that we have lost......"
DeleteIt was the last decade where you could say 'man' instead of 'one' to accommodate gender equality. Nowadays it would have to be renamed "Spirit of One" which doesn't sound strong enough for a song title.
The stark reality is that in years to come, non-PC song titles like this will be edited or obliterated from history to accommodate the modern-day dilution and dumbing-down of once normally accepted statements.
Hi Anonymous! Here's my request for the original archive shows, this week, from the mid- 80's. BBC4 either cut links from them or didn't show them at all. They are 11/04/85, 29/08/85, 16/01/86, 24/04/86 and 11/06/86. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteonly one avalible, sorry
Deletehttps://we.tl/t-2zLb9ej6BC
Thanks for this one, mate! I thought it might be the only one you'd got as all the others are links to Smithy.
DeleteGoodiebags’ turn to dress up like Trevor and rock the accountant look.
ReplyDeleteBlame Mayo for number 40 in the mugshots.
MOOOO! It’s Big Fun with their Zoo Time clobber and the same old dance routine.
Ah, Now I get Kate’s video! Incredibly sad and moving (and yes, depressing) and it fitted the song, which I found a bit too sombre for my taste.
Next it’s De La Soul II Soul as already mentioned, featuring a horrible kids’ chorus. Where’s Caron, then? If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
I wonder how Sydney Youngblood was funny according to Mark? Maybe he found the lack of shirt hilarious. I preferred this to Sydney’s big hit and bought it.
Oo, a mention of Ceefax! I miss that.
An anonymous weedy drum sounding effort from Dusty, wearing a cockapoo on her head.
“Eve Of The War” a good song, Mark? I beg to differ.
More of that Italian disco stuff next. Latino Rave will hit paydrirt with the follow-ups “ Voltarol” and “Vicks Vapour Rub”.
Uurrggh, Queen meets MiniPops. Horrible. Fred must really have been ill to sign this off as a promotional tool. Dreadful sounding production on this song.
God, Simple Minds are even worse than Queen. Prince in the background contemplating which song of theirs to murder as payback.
Unusual clobber on Erasure with a dreadfully dreary song which sounds like Andy’s vocals are at 33.333 rpm.
Jason showing Sydney how to embellish a long coat. Same chime sound on this as on “Feed The World”?
How can a bootleg be official, then? A pointless muddy sounding corned beef hash of Alex’s big moments.
Wow, one of the best shows for a while...
ReplyDeleteKate Bush - a great tune, and interesting video
Soul ii soul - pleasant tune
Sydney youngblood - on a roll, another pleasant ditty, if not a little repetitive from halfway through. Could almost have been written by PSB.
...ooh talk of the devil! Dusty Springfield - her revival continues. Great tune, though to be fair she could have sung the telephone directory...
Breakers:
Latino Rave - jive bunny had a lot to answer for, as the remix medleys start to pile out..
Queen: doing what queen do...
Simple Minds: strange choice of cover, but it actually worked well
Erasure: don’t specifically remember this, but TBH they tended to all sound alike by now (all be this is at half speed)
Jason - standard Jason, standard SAW
Alexander o’neill - let’s remove the tune from several songs...
I watched the Kate Bush video completely today and read up about the song. I hadn't realised it was written specifically for a film scene where a woman's in danger giving birth, and Kate adapts the theme for this video, where we don't get to see the nurse reassuring Kate's other half at the end that all's well after she collapses at dinner. Tim McInerney gives a convincing performance in that video to be fair.
DeleteThought I recognised Captain Darling!
DeleteAt this point on the other side of the Atlantic, Billy Joel made it to No.1 with We Didn't Start The Fire, with the first of two weeks at No.1. "Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, Space Monkey Mafia"......
ReplyDeleteAlright, alright, I know we've been there before, but it was interesting that Joel first charted with it in Britain about a month before America, but nevertheless a worthy new no.1 this week in America despite only making it to a peak of No.7 in the UK.
'We didn't start the fire' was a slow burner in the States.
DeleteKate Bush - A good song, though not one I like to hear too often. The video is a bit too 'performance art' for my liking.
ReplyDeleteSoul II Soul - Good enough, though would be improved about 100% with the kiddies removed from the mix.
Sydney Youngblood - I like this much more than his bigger hit. He continued doing well in Europe after this last success here.
Dusty Springfield - A rather cheap video that makes it look like Dusty is on a trolley sliding backwards and forwards doesn't manage to spoil a rather fine pop song.
Breakers - Both the ones that we won't see again are poor.
Erasure - An extremely odd choice of 2nd single from 'Wild!' given that the 2 that came afterwards are much more commercial. However, I think it's aged rather well and I probably like it more now than I did then.
Jason Donovan - Not really a Christmas song, only the video and the 'armful of presents' line make it one, and the latter is ambiguous (you don't just give presents at Christmas!) but everyone treats it as such which is a shame because you never hear it and it's a great PWL composition.
Alexander O'Neal - Aside from the slightly pointless nature of this single, it can't be a bootleg if it's official, can it?!
Jase sings about sitting by the fire too, which you tend to do in winter.
DeleteTrue, though I'm dangerously close to turning the heating on today!!
DeleteWell hello December 1989 - so nearly the end of the 80s and I remember Xmas 89 and the start of the 90s very clearly, all soundtracked by some great tunes. Mr Goodier is back in his suit again for the best show in a while with some great music...
ReplyDelete...but before we get to that - the Elbow dancing Big Fun are back. I “Can’t Shake” this song from head. It's so bloody annoying! Infectious pop at it's worst.
Kate Bush on video next with one of her more harder to love slow-burners. “This Woman’s Work” has a great video, very cleverly done and full of cheer as Captain Darling watches his lovely Kate die! The song I can take or leave but you can't fault her commitment to her music and I can see why it's so popular with her fans.
Soul II Soul up next and asking us to “Get A Life” with my favourite song of theirs. Because of it's December release and singing kids this always feels like a Xmas tune to me. I really really like this song.
Oiled chest at the ready - Mr Youngblood is back with a belter of tune. “Sit & Wait” one of the best pop songs of the year. Great performance. Why was this man not a bigger star. Another song this week with a seasonal theme. This time of the New Year.
Anyone got access to Ceefax page 641?
Dusty is back! Still with a little PSB help. “In Private” such a great song. Could listen to Dusty all day.
Charts - here come Donalds' Troosers! Cheers Boy Mayo
“Eve Of The War” I adore this mix. Great video as well with some fantastic artwork.
Breakers:
Latino Rave – “Deep Heat ‘89” is a great mix of many of 89s hot dance hits, I had this on vinyl. Purchased with my Xmas money!
Queen – “The Miracle” probably best remembered for it's video rather than the rather tame song. These kids are great, Mini Freddie in particular is fab. Ross McCall went on to appear in Band of Brothers. Apparently the mini-May ended up at Legoland.
Simple Minds covered Prince. How did I not know this. Not a bad version of “Sign O’ The Times” either.
Erasure taking Electronic Music very seriously next. “You Surround Me” is an under-rated gem. Quality tune.
Video all bleached hair, tiger and zebra stripes and dodgy CSO though. It's like an episode of classic Star Trek.
Another song next that reminds me of Xmas (and even has a Xmas version) – “When You Come Back To Me” is by far JD's best song. No apologies from me when I say I think this is a brilliant pop song. Really big fan of this. One of SAW finest.
NKOTB still at Number One. Not for much longer but not Jason, not Soul II Soul - look over your shoulder Mark, there's a dancing bunny behind you...
Pointless but fun Alexander O’Neal, “Hit Mix" to play us out.